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Get Involved
Join our growing movement of neighbors and advocates committed to standing with recently resettled refugees and immigrants. Whether you’re an individual, couple, family, school, place of worship, or local business, we’d love for you to join us.
Join The Movement
Our volunteer information sessions are available for you to join either in person or online. See the schedule for our upcoming sessions! Please complete this contact form if you have any additional questions.
- November 12th – In-Person
- November 23rd – Virtual
- December 3rd – In-Person
- December 21st – Virtual
- January 7th – Virtual
- January 25th – In-Person
- February 4th – Virtual
- February 22nd – In-Person
- March 4th – Virtual
- March 29th – In-Person
- April 8th – Virtual
- April 26th – In-Person
- May 6th – Virtual
- May 31st – In-Person
Ways to Volunteer
Volunteers are a critical piece of the Hello Neighbor community. Hello Neighbor volunteers provide direct support to our new neighbors in a variety of ways, ranging from meal delivery to accompaniment at medical appointments. Volunteers are compassionate, culturally competent, and flexible. Many volunteer opportunities occur during the day, but there are also evening and weekend opportunities such as meal trains and event support.
Here's a sampling of what as-needed volunteers do:
- Housing setups
- Grocery shopping
- Daytime or evening airport pickups
- Transportation
- Bus orientations (additional training required)
- Smart Start appointment accompaniment (for new and expecting mothers - additional training required)
- Respite childcare (2-3 hours)
- Meal trains (for new mothers or neighbors recovering from surgery)
- Supply delivery
- In-office Support
- Event support
Our longer-term volunteer opportunities provide support for our core Family Services programs, including Mentorship, Study Buddy and Smart Start. These opportunities are a great way to build meaningful connections with new neighbors and provide sustainable sources of guidance, comfort and support. The time commitment and duration of each opportunity varies:
- Mentorship (10 hours/month; can meet any time of day or week)
- Study Buddy (two 1-hour evening sessions per week)
- In-Home Visits (one 1-2 hour visit to a neighbor’s home each week)
If you’re not quite sure what volunteer opportunities align best with your skills and schedule, the best way to find out is by attending one of our monthly volunteer information sessions. They are offered in-person as well as online, and they cover both short and long-term term volunteer opportunities.
Other Ways to Get Involved
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Start a Welcome Circle Team
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Make an Employment or Housing Referral
Make an In-Kind Donation
Organize a Donation Drive
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Attend an Event
Volunteer Spotlight
“I started volunteering with Hello Neighbor because I'm a big fan of their mission. As an immigrant and transplant to Pittsburgh, I wanted to do my part in welcoming immigrants and refugees to the city. Volunteering has been very rewarding for me. It's very satisfying to be able to both make a difference, and to meet others that share the same passion.”
– Jim
“The benefits of volunteering for Hello Neighbor has been immeasurable, both personally and for the community. As a volunteer, I am humbled by the amount of kindness and respect they have for my time, while offering those same attributes to the new community members they serve. They have organized their volunteering goals in a way that makes it easy for anyone to get involved. From donations to mentorship programs, each level of volunteering is thoughtful and well organized. Hello Neighbor gives me hope for our city's future, as it continues to build a stronger community.”
– Bill
“We first signed up to do the mentorship program with Hello Neighbor in 2019 because we were new to the area and wanted to connect with other families, and we haven’t stopped volunteering since! We love that there are volunteer opportunities that our whole family can do together to welcome new neighbors to Pittsburgh. We value teaching our children to do good in the world even in the smallest ways like through cleaning a house for a refugee family to move into, preparing a meal for a new mom in the community, or helping distribute school supplies — and Hello Neighbor provides so many opportunities for us to put that value into action. We can all be good neighbors to those who are new and just need a friendly face to say, 'You are welcome here!'"
– Angela
“Eighteen months ago my husband, David, and I moved to Pittsburgh to meet new people and embrace the challenges of getting to know a new city. One of the first things we did was buy the December copy of Pittsburgh Magazine, which outlined “21 reasons to Love Pittsburgh.” Hello Neighbor was #11! It sounded wonderful so I immediately registered to volunteer and the rest is history. Through my assignments delivering meals, setting up households, and space- planning storage spaces at the Hello Neighbor offices, I’ve met and worked with scores of fabulous staff, dedicated volunteers and lovely clients. There are many reasons we love our new hometown; Hello Neighbor is at the top of our list.”
– Claire
